Limp Mode

[nanafagis]

Was driving my car earlier and I got a Coolant warning light, and the car was juddering & lost power so I pulled in, checked for leaks etc... and didn't find anything. My coolant was a bit on the low side, but still over minimum. My first thought was coolant temp sender but i've changed that within the last year so probably not that.

I went out again tonight after topping the coolant up to see if it was just due to thew low level, but now that it's dark I noticed my headlight is off, my front indicator doesn't work and sidelight was flickering. Turns out I have a split wire in the light which was shorting as the engine vibrates. Obviously this afternoon it was still light so I hadn't noticed this.

Could the short in the light cause a "false" coolant fault?

 

[nanafagis]

Right, sorted the headlight problem but the temperature gauge is hitting 120deg, then falls back to 90 when I coast or sit in idle. Now i've read a few stories of waterpump failure on here which normally would seem like the simple answer, but for the overheating to happen within an hour of the headlight problem makes me hope(!) that it's just some sort of fuse gone somewhere. I've managed to get hold of my mate's old Coolant Temperature Sender to see if that works.

If the worst comes to the worst I am due a service in 1500 miles, so i'd do the belts and water pump together and do an early service i suppose. Just could have done with a bit of time to save some pennies!

 

[coyote]

Sounds like it could well be the waterpump. Are your heaters working?

When my waterpump failed the temp seemed to only go up when I was revving it. The temp shot upto 110 deg, then the coolant light came on (still coolant in the car). I tried to get some heat out of the engine by turning the climate control onto max heat and the fans only blew cold.

Cost me £488 at the Audi dealer to get the waterpump, cambelt, tensioners, auxillery belt all changed.

 

[nanafagis]

Erm, I haven't checked the heaters yet, but the other symptoms sound the same as yours. (Heats up when revving even though i've got plenty of coolant) I just got back from changing the temp sensor and that didn't work.

Might be a silly question but which fans should be working and when? My big radiator fan doesn't look like it's on when the engine is running, but there's another fan which stays on for 5 minues or so after i turn the engine off. But I can't see this fan. (sorry i know it's a bit vague)

Looks like i'm in for a premature service this week.